Dylan Scott -- Staff Writer. Dylan graduated from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University in 2010. While there, he won an Associated Press award for Best Investigative Reporting for a series of stories on the university’s structural deficit. He then worked at the Las Vegas Sun and Center for Education Reform before joining GOVERNING. He has reported on the Supreme Court’s consideration of the Affordable Care Act and various education reform movements in state and local government. When out of the office, Dylan spends his time watching classic films and reading fantasy fiction. Email dscott@governing.com | Twitter @DylanLScott

Even though poverty is often linked with higher risks of HIV infection, less than half the states cover routine testing for Medicaid recipients. The feds are offering states an incentive to change that.

The states will receive a one percent increase in the matching rate to their Medicaid program to pay for services that include counseling for healthy diet habits as well as screenings for various cancers and other diseases.

Despite pent-up demand for e-books, Montgomery County, Md., libraries are stymied by book publishing pricing practices that are straining budgets. A county resolution calls for a remedy to the problem.

The U.S. House on Friday passed a bill reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), known as No Child Left Behind, the first passage of major K-12 legislation in more than a decade.

Two states have passed laws this month that require doctors to have hospital privileges to perform abortions. Critics say the laws will have little impact on women's health and are purely politically motivated.

In creating regulations for its now-legal pot industry, Colorado referred to the rules already in place for its medical marijuana system – so much so that it can be hard to distinguish between the two.

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Thursday that they would offer up to $12 million in funding for states to develop ombudsmen programs for their efforts to better coordinate care between Medicare and Medicaid.

Noting that last year was the warmest ever for most states, President Obama released a plan to combat climate change that builds on states' actions around renewable energy development and energy efficiency.

Wisconsin not only wants to join the more than handful of states that give families tax breaks for sending their kids to private schools, its lawmakers are proposing what would be the most generous tax deduction of them all.

States and localities are considering having their retired workers buy health coverage through Obamacare's insurance exchanges instead. The move would likely save employers money but not necessarily employees.

Because of its geographic location, there's little that policymakers can do to prevent the severe natural disasters that hit Oklahoma year after year. The best they can do is prepare for them -- but not everyone agrees how.

A new study reveals that uninsured adults who receive Medicaid coverage experience negligible effects on their physical health, but substantially improve their mental well-being. It previews how the federal law could impact poor, childless adults who get coverage through the Medicaid expansion.

Many municipalities prohibit sex offenders from living near parks. L.A. and Miami are taking it one step further and calling patches of grass “parks” in order to rid their cities of the offenders who currently reside there.

Not all emergencies give people the time or ability to call 911. One Georgia city has installed panic buttons in all of its schools, and similar plans have been introduced in California and New Jersey.

Most insurance companies aren’t adequately preparing for the challenges of climate change, according to a new report, but they are still well-positioned to take the lead on the issue and become vocal advocates in statehouses and on Capitol Hill.

Many Americans still don’t know about the online health insurance marketplaces that are being created under the Affordable Care Act. The District of Columbia is trying to figure out how to change that.

Though she has been acting administrator for more than a year, Marilyn Tavenner, who is leading the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, was officially nominated for the post by President Barack Obama Thursday.

For perhaps the first time, an intimate knowledge of marijuana -- its consumption, growth and distribution -- isn't going to land you in jail in Washington. It just might earn you a job with the state government.

With the deadline for the Affordable Care Act's health insurance marketplaces officially eight months away, Gary Cohen, who is overseeing their implementation for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), assured health care advocates Thursday that they would open on schedule.

Americans want their governors and state lawmakers focused on creating health insurance marketplaces in the current legislative sessions, according to a poll released Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation, while a solid majority of the public also wants their state to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Lost in the chaos of Congress's last-minute passage of legislation to avoid the fiscal cliff this month was the farm bill -- ever the undercard -- and the reality that the hodgepodge of food and agriculture provisions is still sitting on the U.S. House's proverbial desk, expired and needing reauthorization.

In an effort to raise public awareness about the ACA, health insurance exchanges -- websites similar to Expedia where people can purchase health coverage -- will now be called 'health insurance marketplaces.'

In one of two plans he proposed for implementing the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, California Gov. Jerry Brown has suggested that his state try something different: expand the low-income insurance program on a county-by-county basis.

A coalition is coalescing in support of the Medicaid expansion, sparking a nationwide effort to convince skeptical governors and legislators that accepting a windfall of federal money to expand the low-income insurance is a good thing for their state. But those advocates shouldn’t expect the ready help of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce any time soon.

Entering the new year, the nation’s governors are focused on having a role in the federal conversations around deficit reduction and comprehensive tax reform, according to the vision laid out by Delaware Gov. Jack Markell and Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin at the National Governors Association’s inaugural State of the States address Wednesday.

Outgoing Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire, a former Governing Public of the Year, will be named administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) soon, according to a report by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Lost among the tax and spending debate, the fiscal cliff bill passed by the House and Senate this week also averted a significant pay cut for doctors who treat Medicare patients, the Washington Post reports.

Answering a popular question from the states, U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told governors in a letter Monday that her department would not support a partial Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

With reelection in its rearview mirror, the Obama administration released a flurry of Affordable Care Act (ACA) regulations Tuesday, including new specifics about health plans to be sold on health exchanges.

Faced with the reality that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will be fully implemented after President Barack Obama's reelection, Republican governors are asking for a sitdown with the White House to discuss state-level implementation -- and more time to plan their health exchanges.

For the next two years, doctors who provide primary care to Medicaid patients will receive the same payments as those who serve Medicare recipients, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Thursday.

While still ranking behind the economy and jobs as the most important issues of the campaign, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and state-run Medicaid are still important factors for voters heading to the polls next Tuesday, a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll found.

From the Carolinas to New York City, state and local authorities have begun the long process of cleaning up billions of dollars in damage and restoring power to millions after Hurricance Sandy hit the region Monday.

If states decide not to expand Medicaid in 2014, the uncompensated care provided by hospitals could ballon by more than $53 billion by 2019, according to a new analysis from the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (NAPH).

With less than a month before applications to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) are due, half of the states still don’t know what kind of health insurance exchange model they’re going to have.

Medicaid enrollment and spending slowed dramatically in FY 2012 as the nation’s economy began to improve, according to a new 50-state survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation, and those trends are expected to continue in FY 2013.

As local health departments scramble to respond to the fungal meningitis outbreak that has spread to 15 states, infecting more than 200 and killing 15, it serves as a sobering reminder that the nation’s ability to confront such a crisis has been significantly reduced in recent years.

Like any other employers, local governments are preparing themselves for full implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the coming year, weighing their options about improving health coverage for employees or letting their workers test the private markets on the health insurance exchanges.

Add Arizona to the short list of states, joining Maryland and Utah, that have selected their state employee health policy as the benchmark for essential health benefits sold on its health insurance exchange.

Medicare may continue to be the marquee showdown between President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney as they lay out visions for the future of the country's health-care sector, but Medicaid is proving to be a feisty undercard.

States are gaining access to Medicare data for the first time and using it to target high-risk populations in an effort to lower health costs. View our series on aging in America at governing.com/generations.

New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney plans to introduce legislation prohibiting the use of replacement referees for professional sports, his office announced Tuesday morning, in the wake of controversy over the NFL's substitute officials' apparently botched call cost the Green Bay Packers a win in their game against the Seattle Seahawks Monday night.

State and local transportation are ever more important to America's global competitiveness, but in a climate of budget cuts and deficit reduction, policymakers have to make a better argument about the importance of infrastructure investments and find alternate ways to fund those projects.

Though they are a small sliver of the $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts that would take effect on Jan. 1, 2013, the health exchange establishment grants—which are expected to fund almost all state planning for the online insurance marketplaces through 2014—would be cut $66 million if Congress and the White House can't agree on a plan for avoiding sequestration.

While private health insurance coverage remained steady in 2011, government enrollment increased and the overall uninsured rate fell from 2010, according to new figures released this week by the Census Bureau.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is dramatically cutting back his time at the Demoncratic National Convention, as the city's teachers prepare for a walkout in the first weeks of school, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Increased Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage has led to a drop in the number of low-income who are uninsured, despite an increase in child poverty, according to a report released Wednesday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Americans believe a lack of financial support is the biggest problem currently facing public schools, according to the 44th annual Phil Delta Kappa International/Gallup poll of public attitudes toward public schools released Wednesday, but they also say that balancing the federal budget is more important than improving the quality of education.

A plurality of Americans don't think No Child Left Behind, the most comprehensive education legislation passed in decades, has had much effect on public education, according to a new Gallup poll. But among those who do have an opinion, more believe that it has made public education worse.

With the debate over Medicare heating up in the presidential campaign, the Obama administration has partnered with local pharmacies to inform seniors about how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will benefit their Medicare coverage.

Residents in Hawaii, Utah and South Dakota were most likely to say that they are "thriving", according to a new poll from Gallup, while those in West Virginia, Maine and Delaware were least likely to feel that way.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has finalized its guidelines for states to develop their health insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and set a Nov. 16 deadline for states to submit their plans.

Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania are home to the most toxic air pollution from power plants, according to an analysis of 2010 data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), conducted by the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC).

No deadline exists for states to decide whether or not they will voluntarily participate in the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to reports from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) annual summit in Chicago this week.

A solid plurality of Americans would be amenable to their local school districts seriously shaking up the way they operate, according to a new poll from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, which portrayed the poll's results as good news for education reform advocates.

Between decreased Medicaid enrollment and increased health insurance subsidies, the federal government will save $84 billion implementing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) through 2022, according to new estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

After at least a dozen people were killed in Aurora, Colo., Friday morning at a midnight showing of the latest Batman film, law enforcement agencies across the country are working to prevent copycat crimes and ease the public's fears.

U.S. House Republicans have followed through on their pledge to defund the Affordable Care Act, including the exchange establishment grant program that's funding state efforts to implement health insurance marketplaces.

In a letter sent to all 50 governors Tuesday, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that her department would exempt low-income individuals in states that choose not to expand their Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) from the law's individual mandate.

Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman came down firmly against expanding the state's Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which is now voluntary for states after the Supreme Court's ruling at the end of June.

The U.S. economy added 80,000 jobs in June, unemployment remained steady at 8.2 percent and state and local governments added another 4,000 jobs, according to Friday's monthly employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

States will have 10 new opportunities to apply for federal funding to develop their health insurance exchanges outlined in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Friday.

Another five states will receive waivers from federal education mandates under No Child Left Behind, the U.S. Department of Education announced Friday, bringing the total number of waiver states to 24.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the 2010 Citizens United decision, which allowed corporations to spend unlimited money on elections, superseded a Montana law that limited corporate election spending.

Steve Larsen, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) Center for Consumser Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO), an agency that has played a key role in overseeing the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), will resign from his position some time in July.

States can apply for another round of consumer assistance grants, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Thursday, federal money that aids states in implementing some of the customer-oriented elements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Nearly 1,400 deceased individuals and more than 100 prisoners voted in MIchigan elections from October 2008 to June 2011, according to a report released by the Michigan state auditor's office this month.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) doled out another $181 million in health insurance exchange establishment grants Wednesday, bringing the total amount of money that the federal government has pumped into state efforts to craft the online marketplaces to more than $1 billion.

Who says public officials don't have a sense of humor? New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (a Republican) and Newark Mayor Cory Booker (a Democrat) teamed up for a video presented at the New Jersey Press Association's Legislative Correspondents Club Show.

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire released emergency funds to the state department of health earlier this month as state officials aim to curb a whooping cough epidemic that has persisted throughout the first half of 2012.

Several states are considering legislation, known as "wrongful birth" laws, that would prevent parents from suing their doctors for not warning them about potential problems with unborn babies, National Public Radio reports.

State and local officials are joining a broad coalition, spearheaded by the National Center on Time and Learning (NCTL) and the Ford Foundation, to push for a cultural shift toward extended school schedules for schools in low-income areas.

President Barack Obama told ABC News Wednesday that he personally supports same-sex marriage. Within minutes, state and local officials and political candidates took to Twitter to stake out their positions on the president's first formal declaration of support for gay marriage.

The National School Boards Association is organizing a national call-in day for school board members and other local officials to call their Congressional representatives and urge them to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

District-wide initiatives in Kansas City, Mo., and Tulsa, Okla., have aimed to turn abandoned school sites into financial opportunities that will simultaneously improve the surrounding neighborhoods. Click to view our slideshow.

A Nebraska city official has been charged with felony theft for allegedly taking nearly $1,000 from a fund for senior citizen meals and spending it at Victoria Secret and a liquor store, among other places, the Omaha World-Herald reports.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is pumping more than $725 million into community health centers nationwide, facilitating construction and renovation projects, the department announced Tuesday.

After the controversy over former Philadelphia schools superintendent Arlene Ackerman's nearly $1 million buyout, the Pennsylvania Senate voted this week to limit the severance pay to departing school leaders to one year's salary and benefits if they have more than two years of their contract remaining.

States could receive an increased federal Medicaid match if they provide home-based services that allow enrollees to remain in the community rather than be admitted to a hospital or a nursing home, according to a new Affordable Care Act (ACA) rule released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services this week.

Veterans in the Omaha, Neb., area will have access to a new form of online PTSD treatment under a pilot program led by Creighton University and the University of Nebraska, the Omaha World-Journal reports.

With states taking on a bigger role in assessing accountability for school reforms, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute released a paper this week outlining its thoughts on how states can craft effective accountability systems.

The Detroit Public Schools emergency manager has unveiled plans that allow 10 schools to self-govern and put the services of the district's central office for sale for charter schools and others in the area, the Detroit Free Press reports.

This week, the White House has updated its Federal Tax Reciept calculator to reflect current spending levels in time for the April tax season. President Barack Obama proposed such a calculator that would allow Americans to observe in very specific ways how their federal tax dollars are spent; the effort launched last year.

While a myriad of factors determine a community’s overall health, a strong correlation exists between median household income and health outcomes, according to Governing’s analysis of data from the 2012 County Health Rankings, conducted by the University of Wisconsin and sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The opening day of the Supreme Court’s hearings on the Affordable Care Act made strange bedfellows: both the law’s opponents and the federal government argued that the Court should rule on the individual mandate now.

Americans remain almost evenly split about the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to the latest poll released Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation, although many provisions are popular aside from the individual mandate.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released its final rule on state health insurance exchanges Monday, setting the framework under which states must develop their online marketplaces.

A shorter school week could not only save money for school districts, but may also lead to improved student achievement, according to a recent study by professors from George State and Montana State universities.

Can the federal government make it easier for states to adapt their Medicaid programs to ever-changing circumstances? That is the core question asked by the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Governors’ Council in their new paper recommending reforms to Medicaid waivers.

Another 26 states plus the District of Columbia have sought waivers from certain requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), according to the U.S. Department of Education, as the second submission window for applications ended Tuesday.

Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) took another step forward Tuesday, as two bills passed the House Education and Workforce Committee along party lines, but the political viability of the legislation outside the GOP-dominated House remains in question.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who faces a recall election this spring after one million signatures were gathered by his opponents, will not challenge the legitimacy of those signatures, the Wisconsin State Journal reports.

States have received further guidance and additional flexibility for the plans sold on their health insurance exchanges, as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released Friday its first bulletin on the cost-sharing aspects of exchange products.

After Freedon of Information Act requests from various local news outlets and an accompanying lawsuit, the New York City Department of Education released data reports Thursday on the 18,000 teachers in the city's public schools, the New York Times reports.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded Wednesday nearly $230 million in establishment grants to 10 states to aid in their development of health insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act.

The cost of higher education has become a focal point for the Obama administration, but a dean at the University of New Haven's business school is putting his money where his mouth is: he's offering students a chance for a free undergraduate education if they impress him with their entrepreneurial idea, the Hartford Courant reports.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Thursday night, fielding questions on the Race To The Top program and other education initiatives undertaken by the Obama administration.

The American Association of School Administrators (AASA) has named Heath Morrison, superintendent of the Washoe County School District in Reno, Nev., the organization’s 2012 National Superintendent of the Year.

Another competitive education grant program from the Obama administration -- this one designed to overhaul the teaching profession -- has state and local policymakers concerned about equity and flexibility.

New Mexico's application for a waiver from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requirements has been approved, the U.S. Department of Education announced Wednesday, meaning each of the 11 states that applied for waivers in November received them.

States still developing their No Child Left Behind (NCLB) waiver applications can also request a one-year extension of their student achievement targets, according to a letter sent by the U.S. Department of Education Tuesday to chief state school officers.

Proposed cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Prevention Fund and other grant programs in President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2013 budget have state and local advocates concerned that the administration is undercutting communities’ ability to address their population’s health needs.

President Barack Obama’s budget, released Monday, built on the education priorities that he laid out during his State of the Union speech last month: an increased focus on higher education and strengthening the nation’s teaching workforce.

After undergoing a major expansion under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA), the School Improvement Grant (SIG) program is funneling more money to underachieving urban schools, which are in turn pursuing more intervention initiatives, according to a report released Friday by the Council of Great City Schools.

To foster economic growth and job creation, state policymakers must encourage a culture of success within their boundaries, Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman and Delaware Gov. Jack Markell said during a panel discussion Thursday at the Kauffman Foundation’s State of Entrepreneurship event at the National Press Club.

State Medicaid spending and enrollment for fiscal year 2012 is at or below projections from the beginning of the year, according to a mid-year survey released on Thursday by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Prior to President Barack Obama's hosting of the White House Science Fair, the White House announced a series of new funding opportunities and priorities focused on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teachers.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) represented an unfortunate overstep of the federal government’s role in education, members of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce told National School Boards Association (NSBA) attendees Monday.

Former Philadelphia schools superintendent Arlene Ackerman, who left her post with a controversial buyout worth nearly $1 million from the district, had her unemployment claim denied by the state of Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Following up on ideas introduced by President Barack Obama in his State of the Union address last week, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) held an initial hearing Thursday to further explore how to make college more affordable.

Reflecting on the political climate facing state and local governments in 2012, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and former Michigan Gov. John Engler pointed to a lack of leadership in Washington as a hindrance.

If current fiscal policy is maintained, the federal budget deficit will dip slightly in 2012 before falling significantly in the coming years, according to a budget and economic outlook released Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

Proposed regulations under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would save states nearly $18 billion on Medicaid prescription drugs in the next five years, according to estimates released Friday from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Education Secretary Arne Duncan said that the federal government’s role in the sustained push toward more data-driven decision-making in education was to provide funding and resources to states pursuing those initiatives.

The Committee for a Safer Michigan, a grassroots organization that supports the repeal of marijuana prohibition, announced Friday that it plans to push an amendment to the Michigan state constitution that would legalize cannabis use for residents 21 years and older.

Welcome to "democracy in action," as the Wisconsin State Journal called it: the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board is livestreaming Thursday morning its efforts to scan more than 300,000 pages of signatures for a petition to recall Gov. Scott Walker.

As the nationwide debate over immigration continues, Missouri could be the next nexus after legislation introduced in the state Senate would require schools to check the immigration status of their students and require law enforcement officers to check a person's immigration status when they have reasonable cause, the Kansas City Star reported Thursday.

A new California law eliminating city redevelopment agencies could put dozens of projects in danger of being halted and lead to the layoffs of dozens of employees in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) sent a letter Thursday to President Barack Obama and top congressional members of both parties, urging Congress to pass and the president to sign a bill reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act before the 2012-2013 school year begins.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and ACLU Michigan are suing the state over a new law that prohibits public employers from providing health insurance to the domestic partners of public employees.

As city officials in Bristol, Conn., debate how to redraw council districts, some neighborhoods in the city are planning to reduce the number of polling in their communities to cut the costs of poll workers and moderators, the Hartford Courant reports.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Monday a new Pioneer accountable care organizations (ACO) initiative with 32 health care organizations participating in an effort that could save up to $1.1 billion over five years.

Following a call by the National Transportation Safety Board this week for a nationwide ban on nearly all cell phone use by drivers, imploring all 50 states to adopt such legislation, newspapers reacted on their editorial pages with a mix of support and caution.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized the rules, stemming from the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which affect the minimum medical loss ratio (MLR) for insurance plans.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced Tuesday that it would make $40 million in competitive funding available for cities that have signed compacts for collaboration between charter schools and their school districts.

Following approval from the Minnesota Department of Education last month, the Minnesota Guild of Public Charter Schools became the first charter authorizer in the United States to be sponsored by a teachers union.

Arkansas will not establish its own state-run health insurance exchange program, as opposition from the state legislature has stalled efforts to plan the state's program, Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Jay Bradford announced Friday afternoon.

Groups representing Michigan's public and private retirees continued to push their opposition to a new pension tax policy approved this year, threatening political repercussions in the next election for legislators who supported the tax.

Teacher evaluations have become a focal point for policymakers interested in education reform. Following a report on the state of state policies, experts weighed in on what should evaluation systems should look like.

President Obama and Senate Republicans are still at odds over a portion of his jobs plan that would give money to state and local governments to pay salaries for teacher, police officers and firefighters.

A panel of education experts debated whether a focus on achievement gaps for disadvantaged students has turned attention away from others and explored how changes in policy could address both concerns.

A group of 37 state and territorial attorneys general sent a letter to U.S. Senate leaders endorsing former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray as the director of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau.

An Allstate/National Journal poll reveals American believe their financial fortune is tied to the federal government's fiscal well-being, but most doubt elected officials will be able to reach an agreement about how to resolve the long-term federal budget deficit.

The Michigan State Board of Education proved unable to reach a consensus on recommendations to give to the state legislature about new legislation that will lift the cap on the number of charter schools.

The last trial related to the FBI's investigation of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich began on Tuesday. William Cellini, a major player in the state's political scene, faces charges of extortion while seeking campaign funds for the former governor.

An AP investigation reveals a program initiated by Texas Gov. Rick Perry subsidized two mortgages that then participated in risky lending in the state and eventually contributed to the housing market's crash.